Source: This is Staffordshire
A 25-YEAR-OLD man has been sent to prison after stealing money from a taxi and beating up the driver.
When driver Mohammed Siddique arrived, Woodyatt demanded his money bag and a struggle took place.
Craig Woodyatt booked a cab with City Centre Taxis to pick him up from outside a business in Lingard Street, Burslem, on April 26 this year.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard yesterday that the incident left Mr Siddique with cuts to his face and his finger was also injured when it was caught in a key ring.
Prosecutor Fiona Cortese said: “Woodyatt continued to demand the money bag. He saw it under the seat, took it and ran away.
“Contained within it was £200, his taxi licence badge, insurance documentation and diabetes medication.”
Woodyatt was arrested two days later.
He denied the robbery in his police interview saying he did not need to rob anyone because he worked for a living.
But Woodyatt pleaded guilty to robbery during an earlier court appearance.
Woodyatt gave his address then as Dartmouth Street, Burslem, but the court was given no fixed address yesterday.
The court heard Woodyatt had a number of previous convictions dating back to when he was 14.
They include offences of violence, public order and robberies.
Anis Ali, defending, said Woodyatt accepted his record did not work in his favour and he knew the court had no option other than to impose a custodial sentence.
He also said the offence was short-lived and the injuries suffered were minor.
Mr Ali asked for credit to be given for Woodyatt’s guilty plea.
He said to Judge Paul Glenn: “I accept on his behalf most robberies are short-lived, but what can be said is the injuries inflicted on the complainant were relatively minor.
“The sum of money may have been considerable to the driver of the vehicle, but perhaps not as great a sum as Your Honour has dealt with in the past.”
Mr Ali added: “He accepts he had come to the end of the road and now has to mend his ways.”
Judge Glenn sentenced Woodyatt to four years in prison.
He told him: “This offence took place while you were still subject to an expired sentence.
“Taxi drivers are vulnerable by reason of the job they do to attacks like this and that man was doing nothing more than his job.
“From what we have heard from his base control, it was the second time that man had been attacked in two days.
“He was clearly shaken. It took place in a secluded area and you lied through your teeth about it in your interview.”
Woodyatt will serve no more than half his sentence with the rest on licence.
Sponsored Links
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
“Hay! Anis, I’ll nip round yours tonight, attack you leaving you robbed, your face cut, hurt and without the medication you need to stay healthy, see if its minor and not great then. l’ll only take a couple of hundred quid and plead guilty as soon as I’m in the dock, and only then, before that I’ll tell the coppers I didn’t do it as I’m a millionare. OK with you is it, be round about 8 o’clock.”
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade